Thursday, 19 February 2015

The Spontaneity of Blogging

This post a little bit ranty and I do apologise for that but I have a feeling that it is long overdue! I don't know about you guys but I am completely sick to death of bloggers having twitter spats about what you should and shouldn't do and what makes a blog good or bad and so on. Um...hello? Isn't a blog supposed to be a space for creativity, for thinking outside of the box or letting ideas manifest onto a little personal piece of space on the internet? Now while there are probably a lot of things you can do to build up page views, increase followers and in general make your content more enjoyable for readers what we all seem to be forgetting is the whole bloody point! Unless your blog is your one and only source of income or career then the whole reason you have it is probably because it is a hobby, a past time, something you ENJOY. And how enjoyable is following a load of rules?

Last year I started out with all intentions of following the rules. I scheduled my posts for every other day, I made sure I set them for peak times and first thing in the morning to increase page views, I took all of my photographs in bulk one day a week and dedicated a day or more to sit and write up my blog posts for the entire month. While I was adhering to this rigid format I did see my followers grow in number and I relished in it, but something wasn't right. I was constantly putting pressure on myself to make sure I could type up a months worth of posts in 3 days , setting my alarm for ridiculous o clock on my day off and nearly crying whenI realized one of my photos was blurry. Sometimes when the scheduled post was eventually published I would change my mind and wonder why I ever thought it would work. I was putting my blog before things like university assignments and spending time with my boyfriend. I was highly strung, stressed out to the max and just generally feeling a bit down. I made life hard for myself by comparing myself to others and wondering where they got all the time from.

Fast forward to this year and I've taken a much more laid back approach to blogging. I've stopped putting pressure on myself to post every other day and I'm spending a lot more time relaxing and socializing with actual people rather than refreshing my twitter feed every 2.5 seconds. YES I still take my blog seriously but at the end of the day it isn't my full time career and at this very moment in time it shouldn't be my number 1 priority. If there ever came a time when that happened it would be a very different story but right now I am happy to have this as a hobby which on occasion can make me a little bit of extra cash. I don't need people on Twitter telling me that I'm failing because I didn't post for a whole week. Blogging isn't a test or at least it shouldn't be. Shouldn't we be aiming to create our own unique and individual view points instead of striving to be a carbon copy of *insert successful blogger here*?

As of January I decided that I wasn't going to give into the pressures of blogging and that I certainly wasn't going to read any bloggers tips posts that gave contradictory advice or patronized all of us 'little bloggers'. I definitely don't want to become one of those people that has to say no to my friends or family because I need to stay in and write up a post or join in with a blogger twitter chat. This year I've been writing posts as and when they come to me, taking photos when I have a bit of extra time on my hands or when I really want to and in general just taking a more relaxed approach to the whole thing. And guess what? I'm still getting the same amount of page views every day, my followers are still following and the world didn't end. Doesn't it ever occur to certain people that some of the best content is created when it hasn't been planned? That sometimes my best ideas come to me at 2am when I can't sleep and I just have to write it up then and there before it is forever forgotten?

This post isn't supposed to be me telling anyone to chill out or not to publish planned posts or whatever because what works for some may not work for others and we all have our own unique way of doing things, but if blogging is making you seriously stressed out or putting pressure on you then I just want to reassure you that you shouldn't be afraid to try things differently, or to go against the norm. You made a decision to start a blog once upon a time and its up to you how you want your blogging journey to go. There is no set way of doing anything and some of the best blogs I read only post twice a week but I find their content particularly engaging so I always look forward to their posts. The bloggers I most enjoy are the kind of people who think outside the box, keep things fresh, and incorporate their personality into their writing. I once read a quote that said: "I'm not interested in competing with anyone. I hope we all make it."If only more bloggers could follow that advice and stop being so darn competitive.

The ONLY rules that bloggers should take seriously is that there are no rules. If you want to sit and drink tea and watch netflix instead of typing up a review that you can't be bothered doing then you do that. Don't let anyone pressure you into creating the kind of content that doesn't feel right for you no matter how popular it may seem. Don't ever let anyone tell you that your blog isn't good enough, that you don't try hard enough, that you NEED to do anything. Write the content you want to write about that you yourself would genuinely read, be creative and original and your readers will love you for it. I promise.

11 comments

I've felt this pressure for a while. When I started blogging over 6 years ago there wasn't that pressure of reviewing/PRs/followers. It was more about fostering a community and being creative. In the last couple of years, it's just exploded into such a pressurised competitive environment. I'm taking each post as it comes and letting myself have time off when I want. I have a job which involves producing digital content day-in day-out, so I can't come home to more content pressure!

I actually am doing a blogging tips series at the moment - and the more I've done the posts, the more I've realised the importance of not feeling like you need to follow 'rules' or that you need to do anything. People get too easily stressed out by blogging because it is so competitive that they forget that at the end of the day it should be enjoyable rather than one big competition.

this post was rant-y but I loved it! I feel like sometimes there's a pressure to exert a "perfect" lifestyle. You have to know what the latest products are and if you don't own a bunch of candles, fairy lights and white surfaces, then you have "failed" as a blogger. I do schedule my posts, but I only post once a week so there's no pressure there. I must admit that some tips like bulk taking photos are really useful, but there is a pressure to have things "perfect" and I am so guilty of wondering why my pictures aren't as nicely arranged as XYZ... Thumbs up from me for writing this post!

This is such a great post! I do schedule posts, but only because I genuinely like doing it and it makes me feel good about my blog. But if another blogger doesn't like doing that, I honestly don't care. What's the point of having so many rules? It sucks the life out of it ♥Amy xx

If that's what works for you then that's great :) ! I genuinely love blogging but been feeling so shit about it recently with all the awful competitive bloggers that are out there preaching atm *civers ears emoji* xxxx

Love this! I've noticed advice is getting more and more popular and well, some things are doable for everyone, but everyone has its own life and views blogging in its own way so we don't need to be copies of each other ;) xxGyudy's Notes Of Beauty